Saturday Afternoon Parades Could Be Affected By Storms
We gave you a heads up about this weekend's weather forecast earlier in the week and it looks as if forecasters are in pretty good agreement that it will rain on Saturday. In fact. the Storm Prediction Center has placed all of Acadiana in the "marginal risk" zone for severe storms on Saturday.
That's the bad news. The good news is that weather forecasting isn't an exact science and predicting exactly when and where rain will fall and how strong storms will be is hard to do. So don't cancel any plans just yet. But using the tools we have at our disposal we can tell you this.
The National Weather Service office of Lake Charles has put a 70% chance of rain in the forecast for the area on Saturday. Forecasters at KATC TV are pretty much in agreement with that forecast as well. It looks like the most likely time for rain and thunderstorms to occur will be between Noon and 6 PM on Saturday.
If that's the case then Mardi Gras Parades in Carencro, Lake Arthur, and the Krewe des Chiens parade for dogs in Lafayette will most likely have to make a decision about the best way to handle inclement weather. The forecast improves greatly for Saturday night when the Rio Parade is scheduled to roll through the streets of Lafayette.
The forecast for Sunday calls for sunny skies and temperatures in the middle 60-degree range. That could certainly be an option if some of the parade organizers are looking for one. However, two other parades are already on the schedule for Sunday, Scott and the Grand Marais Parade so that will need to be considered.
We encourage you to download our station mobile app for your smartphone for official information on these and other parades throughout Mardi Gras season.